Su Qingbai was still a little uncomfortable. There was no other way. Without any better option, he specially ran a trip to the apothecary. After asking for the ointment with a thick face, he ran back with the medicine in his clothes under the doctor’s peculiar eyes.
In the evening, Su Qingbai stayed in his room, took off his pants and applied the medicine on himself. Suddenly, the door creaked and opened.
Su Qingbai’s hand shook in horror.
Only to see Madam Su came in smiling. “Sleep so early?”
Su Qingbai retracted into the quilt and poked his head out. “Hn!”
Madam Su smiled gently and then sat down beside Su Qingbai’s bed. “Mom came to tell you that your father and your elder brothers had a discussion. We'll set off to Ning County in the morning.”
Madam Su smiled and touched his face when she saw her son’s bitter face. “Mom knows that it’s been a tough time for you. Don’t blame your father. The affairs of officialdom ah, no one can tell for sure.”
Su Qingbai shook his head hard. How could he blame his father?
He remembered his father, who always wrinkled his face and loved to teach others. But after a few days, his father back was bent down, his head was covered with white hair, and his forehead was wrinkled —completely losing the former spirit.
Madam Su nodded. “It's good that my son thought so. You have to remember that your father was dismissed not because he did something wrong, but because he was in the officialdom without the freedom to act independently.”
Su Qingbai cutely nodded, which was hard to come by.
Madam Su couldn’t help touching her son’s head and said with pity, “Hereafter, you’ll have to live in the hard time with the rest of us.”
Su Qingbai plunged into his mother’s arms. “I’m not afraid.”
Madam Su dotingly shook her head, noncommittal. Her youngest son grew up in a honeypot, how could he adapt to the hard time all of a sudden? Right now Qingbai didn’t know what kind of days he will live in the future, so he talks big and says he’s not afraid. But she knew that he had been living like a prince for many years, she dared not say that he would adapt to such days.
Madam Su saw that her son’s attitude was not so resistive, so she put her heart down and patted his head, “Okay, you go to sleep, Mom left first.”
Su Qingbai came out of Madam Su’s arms and nodded cutely.
Madam Su smothered her clothes that had been disorganized by Su Qingbai and then stood up to leave.
Suddenly, with a 'ta' sound, something fell out.
Madam Su followed the sound to look. Su Qingbai also saw it. At once, his face turned red. Wasn’t this the ointment he smeared on himself?
Madam Su was one step ahead of Su Qingbai, to pick up the thing, but Su Qingbai snatched it.
Madam Su didn’t blame him either. She asked softly, “What’s this?”
Su Qingbai hemmed and hawed, and half a day later he said, “Face ointment.”
After hearing this, Madam Su laughed, then reached out and pulled on her son’s little tender face. “No wonder this little face is white and tender.”
Su Qingbai pretended to be embarrassed. “Mom~”
Madam Su waved her hand and stopped laughing. “Okay okay, no laughing at you, go to sleep.”
Perhaps because the dust had settled down, this night, everyone slept with a piece of mind, which was hard to come by.
Before going to bed, Madam Su told Father Su about their youngest son’s showing off his good looks shamelessly and secretly smeared things on his face at night. Father Su laughed while listening, but wrote it down in his heart.
He wondered: it's enough that the youngest son did not have future prospect, but when did he learn the behavior of those young daughters?
Early in the morning, before Su Qingbai had enough sleep, he was woken up by his mother. Originally, he wanted to stay in bed for a little longer. But when his Dad's head poked out at his door, he dared not stay in bed any longer. He got up from bed obediently.
When everything was finished, Su Qingbai glanced silently at the baggage they would be carrying. He really didn’t know how long it took for his father and the rest to pack just that little amount of baggage.
Su QingBai watched his father and the rest moving things into the carriage outside. Su Qingbai didn’t know what other people’s family looked like when they were dismissed from office and their possession confiscated, but he knew that it must not be like his own. He looked at how they looked like going to a trip into the mountains and rivers.
“Sigh~” Su Qingbai was still sad about leaving his home which he had lived for more than ten years, so he couldn’t help sighing.
Pa!
Father Su said, “Youngster, what are you sighing about? Didn’t you see everyone busy? Come and help quickly.”
Su Qingbai touched his head and obediently went to help.
Nevertheless, counting on from small to big, Su Qingbai even pouring his own tea he rarely did. Moreover, Su Qingbai was not very comfortable at the moment, how could he help with work?
…
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Su Qingbai was abandoned.
Every time Father Su heard the click of the bottles and cans, his heart pumping and his mouth sighing, “Enough, just stand by and watch. You don’t have to help.” The house had already been seized, there was not much left in the house. Father Su really wanted his youngest son to suffer hardship, but Su Qingbai kept dropping things, his heart was really dripping with blood.
Su Qingbai wore a selfless face. “But I want to do something for you.”
After Father Su thinking about it, he said, “You go and help your Er-ge[1] prepare the fodder.”
Su Qingbai turned silent… He could not ah.
“I'll just listen to Dad. I’d better stand by and watch.”
Su Father shook his head worriedly, and began to carry things, while thinking that later he would teach the little boy properly and change his easy-going and loathsome nature.
“Get out of here!”
With Father Su's respond, Su Qingbai immediately ran to under a big tree not far away.
He was only busy for half a day, and accidentally pulled the wound that had already been better.
After the bustling ended, the family only drank a cup of tea and began to set off.
When they were out of city walls, many people came to see them off. Su Qingbai took a look –many of them were his father’s students.
Su Qingbai, who was not familiar with them, thought that it had nothing to do with him. Suddenly, someone shouted, “Young Lady Lou, Lou Jingyu is coming.”
Su Qingbai's face suddenly turned black and felt a green hat[2] was on his head.
Lou Jingyu was his fiancé, but not anymore.
He and Lou Jingyu had never actually met each other, and the engagement was merely the parents' arrangement.
Footnote:
[1] Er-ge = second older brother
[2] green hat = cuckold
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